An atheist group is mulling its next move after a federal appeals court upheld the city of Warren’s refusal to let the organization display an anti-religion sign inside city hall around Christmas.

In the wake of the legal defeat handed down by a panel of the Sixth Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, a lawyer for the Freedom From Religion Foundation said Wednesday the group will likely ask the full court to review the case.

“Obviously we’re disappointed with the three-judge panel. We disagree with the decision,” said Rebecca Markert, senior staff attorney at the Madison, Wisc.-based organization. “The case is characterized as a religious symbol on government property case, instead of a free speech case. That is a mistake.”

The Freedom From Religion Foundation wanted to place the sign because the Warren Rotary Club annually placed a nativity scene in the atrium, and the city also had various Christmas decorations.

Advertisement

The separation of church and state watchdog group and Warren resident Douglas Marshall sued the city in December 2011, alleging Mayor James Fouts illegally endorsed religion by allowing a local service club to display a nativity scene in the city hall atrium and rejected the organization’s request to place an anti-religion sign nearby. The sandwich board-style sign states: “At this season of the Winter Solstice, let reason prevail. There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural world. Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds.”

Last June, U.S. District Judge Lawrence Zatkoff ruled in Warren’s favor. The FFRF then appealed.

The appellate court panel said this week that the nativity scene and holiday decorations – including a Christmas trees, elves, large nutcrackers, wreaths and a “Merry Christmas” sign – is “government speech” but is not illegal and doesn’t require an opposing view.

“I am particularly impressed that the court ruled that the First Amendment prevents any government restricting the speech of individuals but individuals cannot restrict the speech of government,” Fouts said in reaction to the ruling.

In nixing the FFRF’s request, Fouts previously dubbed their sign “antagonistic toward all religions” and said that “no organization has the right to disparage the beliefs of many Warren and U.S. citizens because of their beliefs.” The mayor also claimed the sign would spark hostility among visitors to city hall and Warren employees.

In a statement on the FFRF’s website, co-president Annie Laurie Gaylor said: “We are not a Christian nation. Under our secular constitution, city governments should be forbidden to endorse one religion over another, or religion over non-religion, much less sitting in judgment of what is or isn’t a desecration of religion.”

The ruling by U.S. Appeals Court Judges Jeffrey Sutton, Eugene Siler Jr. and David McKeague marked the second defeat in the last six months for the organization in cases involving Warren and Marshall.

In 2008, the group pressured the Macomb County Road Commission to force the removal of a nativity scene placed in the median of Mound Road, near Chicago Road. The crèche was a tradition started in 1944 by the father of Warren resident John Satawa. The county roads department refused to grant Satawa a permit. He sued in 2009, claiming his free speech rights were violated.

U.S. District Court Judge Gerald Rosen rejected his request for a preliminary injunction, ruling that the display created a traffic hazard by blocking the view of vehicles on northbound Mound by motorists heading east on Chicago Road. Rosen dismissed the case in the county’s favor in April 2010.

The Thomas More Law Center appealed on Satawa’s behalf, and the federal appeals court last August overturned Rosen’s decision, and ruled the road median is a public forum where Satawa could exercise freedom of speech rights.

With the help of friends and supporters, Satawa, 76, put up the nativity scene – enclosed in an 8-foot-by-8-foot log cabin – last December after a four-year absence.